by Liz Turner
“Oh, why’d you have to bring something like that up?” Sakura objected. “We’re not dealing with anything like that here!”
“I guess not. Sorry. But it’s food for thought,” Veronica smiled sheepishly. “My point is that even a family member can murder someone if they think they have a reason for it.”
Sakura smirked at her, and Veronica’s eyebrows furrowed.
“What?”
“Food for thought? That a cooking joke?”
“Sorry, bad pun,” Veronica said. “We’re going to need to be careful when we ask them anything. Amber only just died after all.”
“Thanks for reminding me.”
The pair headed for the lobby counter to ask for the Buckner’s room numbers. It turned out they had multiple rooms reserved that weekend, but they decided Martin was probably staying in the largest suite, so they went there first. They took the elevator to the top floor of the Starlight Resort and walked down the hall. The hallways matched the outside of the resort, with strings of stars and the occasional moon painted along the walls and ceiling. The ceiling light, shaped like a large star, had multiple points that left sparkles on the walls which made the painted stars mostly redundant. “There’s much to do with the resort related to appearance, isn’t there?” Sakura commented.
“Did you get that from the artwork or Sandro’s outfits?”
They arrived at the correct room number a few moments later. Thoughts and questions swirled around Veronica’s head, and she wondered what she should ask first, and how to ask it. She was no investigator or detective, so how was she going to word this without seeming too insensitive? The last thing she wanted to do was make anyone more upset.
Somehow I think that might be unavoidable, she thought.
As they arrived at the door, it opened before either of them even had the chance to know. Janet stepped out, her face even tighter than it normally was and her eyes to the floor. It had taken a minute before she realized the other two women were even there, and she jumped ever so slightly once she spotted them.
“Chef Koche,” she said stiffly. “Chef Yamouchi. I didn’t see you there.”
“Sorry. We didn’t mean to surprise you,” Veronica responded. “We heard about what happened to Amber. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” said the aunt. “You didn’t have to come up to say that, though.”
“ We were hoping to speak to you and the rest of your family about it,” Sakura interjected. “We know Amber was a trained lifeguard, so the fact that she drowned in a swimming pool seems a little suspicious to us.”
Janet nodded. “That’s the conclusion we’ve come to as well, although if someone did kill her, then they are an inept murderer.”
“Inept murderer?” Sakura repeated. “That’s a weird way of putting it.”
“You’re not the first to say I’m weird.”
“Why would that be inept?” Veronica asked.
“If it were murder, it would make sense to get rid of the body. That way there would be no evidence.” Janet explained. “Why put the body in the pool instead of the lake? The chances of recovering it from the lake would have been much slimmer.”
“You almost sound like a criminal yourself,” Sakura joked, but Janet didn’t laugh.
“The fact that Amber was in the pool makes it seem more like an accident than murder,” Janet admitted. “But I still have my doubts.”
“Would it be all right if we ask you a few questions about last night?” Veronica requested.
“Are you starting an investigation into Amber’s death?”
“Not exactly. Just trying to put some pieces together.”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to speak with my father or my brother right now,” Janet informed them. “They are both quite distraught. You understand.”
“Of course. That makes perfect sense.” Veronica nodded emphatically. “But how about you? Can we ask you some things first?”
Janet shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”
“Did anything happen last night with Amber?” Veronica inquired. “Anything that was out of the ordinary?”
“Not out of the ordinary,” Janet replied. “She spent some time with me immediately after dinner, but she didn’t stay for long.”
“Why not?” Sakura asked. “Did something happen?”
“She had another fight with her father during dinner,” Janet explained. “I was trying to help her see his point of view so that she would focus more on her studies.”
“Amber wasn’t a good student?”
“Only in things that interested her,” Janet continued. “David wanted her to be a doctor, but Amber despised the idea.”
“And…you were trying to tell her being a doctor was a good idea?” Sakura repeated.
“It was a good idea,” Janet insisted, showing emotion for the first time. “David’s a doctor. I’m a researcher focusing on cancer. Why wouldn’t Amber want the same?”
Veronica’s tilted her head in thought. “What did she want to do instead?”
Janet bit her lip but didn’t answer. “Was there anything else?”
“Where did Amber go after she spoke with you?” Veronica was going to ignore Janet’s avoidance of her question. “Did she say?”
“No I don’t know, and she didn’t say.” Janet shrugged. “She just kept going on about how everyone was trying to control her before she stomped out. She never understood that we have a better idea of what was best for her. I didn’t see or hear from Amber again until I learned about her death this morning.”
“You didn’t go after her?” Sakura asked. “She was upset, and you just let her leave?”
“This wasn’t the first time Amber threw a temper tantrum,” Janet described. “And I was busy researching, before and after dinner. I had other things on my mind.”
Veronica paused. “So…you were just in your room all evening?”
“And night, and morning except for when they found Amber.”
“With all the things this resort offers, you just sat in your room?” Veronica asked. “That’s a little strange.”
“Everyone thinks I’m a little strange, but that’s just what I do,” Janet answered. “Was there anything else?”
“I don’t think so…”
“Then I’ll be off. Father wants me to pick up some food from the restaurant,” she finished. “He doesn’t feel like leaving the suite right now.”
“Don’t let us keep you.”
Janet nodded and walked past the two chefs. Veronica and Sakura stared at each other before turned and following, although they took a different elevator to return to the bottom floor of the resort.
Chapter 8
“Well that was helpful,” Sakura complained as she and Veronica arrived at the resort lobby again. “Now we know what we need to do next..”
“Yeah, talking to Janet didn’t tell us anything useful, did it?” Veronica agreed. “Amber fought with David, again, and Janet ended up doing the same thing. Amber didn't like it when anyone else tried to tell her what to do.”
“I could have told you that,” Sakura said. “It was the main thing she talked about when we went for that walk. Remember?”
“How would I remember? I wasn’t on the walk with you,” Veronica answered with a laugh. “But I know what you mean. It must have been hard for her.”
“But were things so bad that someone would have killed Amber over it?” Sakura wondered out loud.
“I don’t know, but I have an idea,” the older chef replied. “Janet said she spoke with Amber right after dinner, and then Amber left. We should see if she spoke with anything else last night.”
“Track her movements through all last evening?” Sakura summarized.
“Exactly. It might lead us to who was with her last, and that might lead us to the killer.”
Sakura smiled. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
“Do you still have that notebook of yours?” Veronica asked.
“Do I sti
ll have that notebook?’ she says,” Sakura replied, pulling her bright pink notepad out of her jacket back pocket. “Of course, I do. I never go anywhere without it. What if I get an idea for a new mystery book?”
“Well, you might have one right here and now,” Veronica declared. “Can you keep notes while we do all these interviews? That way we’ll have some information for Detective Bernard when he finally comes to his senses and realizes this is a murder we’re dealing with.”
“This is cool!” Sakura proclaimed. “Interviews! Looking for evidence and putting together data! We’re like real investigators!”
Veronica grinned at the younger woman’s excitement. “Okay, back to business. We know Amber went somewhere after talking to Janet, but we don’t know where she went next. What do you think?”
“Maybe to the hiking trail?” Sakura suggested but shook her head moments later. “No, she was always careful not to go into the woods after dark, and I’m pretty sure it was after dinner.”
Veronica was thinking about what their next step should be when she spotted one of the elevators on the other side of the room open. Charles exited through the doors, carrying a large, flat fabric case under his arm. He glanced around the lobby multiple times, his eyes slowly looking at each person to see if he recognized them. Then he headed towards the door leading outside. His pace was a little faster than his normal stride, and Veronica couldn’t help but instantly feel like he was acting suspicious.
“Hey, check it out.” She pointed the man out to Sakura, who watched as he left the building. “We should talk to him next.”
“Next suspect: Charles Buckner.” Sakura started writing in her notebook. “Quiet loner. Motive: Unknown. Opportunity: Unknown.”
“Will you just come on!” Veronica was already walking towards the door Charles had exited.
They tried to stay a little behind Charles, just in case he didn’t want anyone following him (which if his expression at the elevator was any indication, he didn’t) and carefully trailed him as he went up into the mountains a little way. He stopped at a large rock and sat down, looking over a small clearing with a giant log that fell over a creek. From his case, he pulled out a small easel and canvas, which already had details painted on it, although the ladies couldn’t see what it was from such a distance. Charles pulled out a set of paints and began working with the greens and browns, adding a little blue for the creek.
“I didn’t know Charlie painted,” Sakura stated.
“I saw him drawing someone on a sketchpad by the pool yesterday,” Veronica informed her. “I think he’s an artist, but he doesn’t like to share with strangers.”
“That makes sense,” Sakura concurred. “I don’t like sharing any books I’ve only half written.”
“Do you think I should go up and ask him about Amber?”
“Now’s as good a time as any.”
Swallowing her nervousness about interrupting Charles at a bad time, Veronica stepped over a few branches and rocks until she reached him. She purposely made noise so she wouldn’t surprise him too much. At the snap of a twig, Charles jumped. Thankfully his paintbrush had been away from his canvas at the time, so it didn’t ruin his work.
“Sorry, Mister Buckner,” Veronica announced. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay, and remember you can call me Charlie,” he reminded her. “I’m just a little jumpy right now.”
“I can understand why. I heard about Amber.”
Charles looked down at his paints. “You and a lot of people.”
Veronica finished walking over to him and took a glance over his shoulder at the canvas. She recognized it immediately. It was a side profile of a young woman, sitting on a log next to a small river and gazing up at the tops of the trees. The brown bark and branches of the trees were finished and almost looked like they had a texture that you could feel. Much of the green from the leaves still needed to be added in, but Veronica could tell that Charles’ style was to paint the colors in different layers. The base layer was the darkest, and the lighter colors went on top of that once the base color was dry. Only the woman looked nearly complete, and she was smiling as she watched the sky.
“It’s beautiful,” Veronica complimented. She pointed to the lady in the painting. “That’s Amber, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. I was working on it before she died,” he explained. “She caught me working on it last night. I thought she’d hate it, or be mad that I was painting her, but she was nice about it.”
“I remember you saying you don’t like to share unfinished work,” the chef recalled. “Sorry.”
“That’s all right. It was incomplete when Amber saw it as well.” Charles looked at the scenery around him. “When she learned I was painting her, she agreed to pose for me for a little while. It was right here.”
Veronica glanced around. Sure enough, the scene in the painting was almost identical to their surrounding environment. The stream was the same; the log was the same, even the sight of the mountains was the same. The only thing missing was the centerpiece of the painting, Amber herself.
“It’s a lovely place to paint,” Veronica commented. “How did Amber find you up here?”
“Probably the same way you did,” Charles suggested. “She saw me hike up here and decided to follow me.”
“How was she doing when she visited you?”
“She was upset. That’s happened a lot recently,” he described. “She had an argument with her dad at dinner, and she told me she had a similar fight with Janet. She said she left the resort to blow off some steam and followed me here. That’s when she saw the painting and agreed to pose for me. It’s much easier to paint something that’s real when it’s right in front of you.”
“People especially, I bet.”
“Exactly,” Charles smiled at her. “You understand how an artist works. You’re a different type of artist, being a chef.”
“Thank you,” Veronica returned. “Did Amber say what she argued about with David and Janet? I know it’s about David wanting her to be a doctor, but was there anything else to it?”
“Oh boy was there,” Charles replied. “Amber wanted to be a singer. She wanted to attend college to earn a music degree, but David wouldn’t have it. He always said he wouldn’t help her pay for any lessons or any degree in music.”
“He’d only help her financially if she became a doctor?”
“That was the threat. Of course, it backfired. Amber would just argue that she would find a job so she could earn money to pay for school, and that just made David even madder.”
“Yeah, I can imagine that not going well,” Veronica said with a smirk.
“To be fair to David, Amber wasn’t very flexible about the idea,” Charles amended. “But you’ve got to follow your dreams, you know? David shouldn’t have pushed her so hard. It just pushed her away.”
Suddenly a thought came to her mind. “Are you speaking from personal experience?”
“Have you heard about the fallout I had with my dad?” Charles asked.
“No, I was just wondering.”
“It was the same. Dad and I got into fights a lot about that too. He wanted me to follow in David’s footsteps and be a doctor, but I was determined to be a painter.”
“That didn’t seem to stop you.” Veronica gestured to the painting. “And you’re really good at it.”
“I was able to work my way through school, just like Amber said she would, and I’ve been able to get plenty of jobs painting for one thing or another,” he described. “But Dad was just as stubborn as David is now. I left the family for a long time. I didn’t have contact with him or my brother and sister for years.”
She frowned deeply. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
“It’s okay. Dad and I made up in the end,” Charlie continued. “He started to appreciate the arts when he got older. He even ended up calling me to talk about it. We both apologized, and…well, here we are now.”
/> “Is that why you’ve been kind of distant from your family?” Veronica inquired.
“It’s a little awkward,” Charlie answered, his smile a bit embarrassed. “Especially when David and Amber go at it. It’s history repeating itself.”
“That can’t be easy for David.”
“I think it’s part of the reason he gets upset about it so easily,” Charles agreed. “I hoped David wouldn’t make the same mistake Dad, and I did, because David was just pushing Amber away with his controlling nature.”
“He is a bit of a control freak, isn’t he?” Veronica asked. She then froze. “Um, can you not tell him I said that?”
“Not tell him you said what?”
Veronica grinned. That’s a relief. “So Amber told you all this?”
“Yeah, she vented to me for a while. I told her just to follow her dreams,” he resumed. “I mean, I might have had problems with Dad, but if I had done what he said I would’ve been miserable for my entire career. I didn’t want the same for Amber.”
“What happened after she posed for you?”
“I guess I encouraged her enough. She said she was going to talk to dad about her plans to become a singer,” Charlie explained. He glanced at his unfinished painting, and his eyes became glossy. “She made me promise to give her this painting when it was finished. I’d never been happier.”
Veronica put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
“This was my first vacation with her. Did you know that?” Charles looked up at her with sad eyes. “Our first vacation. I never even got to be there when she was born, or when she first learned to walk, or when she went to school. I wasn’t part of the family then. I only just got to know her…”
“Then you should feel lucky she was willing to share her singing with you,” Veronica offered. “You said she was good?”
“Was she ever!” he proclaimed. “She had a beautiful voice, and she could hit many notes that professional opera singers couldn't reach! I don’t think I’ll ever understand why David and Janet didn’t support her love of it.”